


She Remembers

by astralpenguin



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, POV Multiple, Tags May Change, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-07-12 18:23:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7117420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralpenguin/pseuds/astralpenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if, when Homura turned back time, Madoka was able to remember the abandoned timeline too?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'll Never Forget That

**Author's Note:**

> i finished the homura’s revenge manga and was ever so slightly disappointed by its ending (i mean madoka was wayyy too okay with what happened to sayaka those two are supposed to be best friends wtf???) so this is sort of happening now i guess???
> 
> who knows how this’ll go

“That’s enough.”

Her spiralling thoughts froze as she focused on the girl crouching in front of her.

“You’ve done more than enough, Homura.”

“Madoka,” Homura’s hand weakly came up to grab onto Madoka’s sleeve, begging her to listen, “don’t do it.”

“Homura,” Madoka stood, and smiled back at her, “I am sorry, but I want to be a magical girl. I finally figured it out. What I want to wish for. I know what I want now more than anything else. And I’m ready to trade my life for it with no regrets.”

“But you can’t!” Homura cried, “If you do then, everything I’ve fought for, it’s all for nothing!”

Madoka crouched back down next to where Homura lay with her leg trapped underneath the broken slab of concrete that had fallen on her. She put her arms around her before she began to speak.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You’ve been protecting me for a long time. And I’ll never forget that...”

She kept going, but something had sparked an idea in Homura’s mind.

There was something she still hadn’t tried.

Something that she could do differently.

Maybe, just maybe, this could work.

Homura sat up sharply and wrapped her arm around Madoka, ignoring the other girl’s sudden cry of alarm. She reached over to her shield and, making sure that Madoka was firmly in her grasp,

t  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will start properly in the next chapter


	2. You're Not Alone

Madoka Kaname was lying in her bed.

Sure that that wasn’t where she’d been moments before, she slowly sat up and took in her surroundings.

There wasn’t any rubble, or destruction. There were no familiars or incubators. She was, however, surrounded by stuffed toys.

Madoka got out of bed and walked over to where her phone was plugged into the wall. However, before she reached it, she remembered that her phone hadn’t been plugged in before. Madoka distinctly remembered putting it in her pocket before going to find Homura. She definitely didn’t leave it at home at the very least. So what was it doing here?

What was _she_ doing here?

She picked up her phone and turned it on. There, her question was answered.

“Wow...” she muttered to herself as she stared at the date shown on the screen. It showed a date roughly six weeks earlier than the one it had just been. It was as if the past six weeks had never even happened.

 _Wait,_ Madoka thought to herself, _does that mean....?_

Quickly she typed out a message.

**_hey, you up?_**

She stood, clutching her phone in her hand and staring at it for ten minutes before she received a response.

**_if youre hoping for a proper convo youll be_** **_disappointed it is WAY too early_ **

_**dw about it, see you at school**_

Breathing a sigh of relief, Madoka put her phone down and walked out of her bedroom. Sayaka Miki was alive. She wasn’t a witch. She wasn't even a magical girl. This left Madoka with two possible explanations.

Either she’d just woken up from an extremely vivid and detailed dream, or Homura had actually turned back time.

And, somehow, this time Madoka could remember what had now never happened.

Either way, she knew it would bug her until she could find out for sure. And she wouldn’t know for sure until Homura transferred into her class. Or didn’t.

***

The next week or so went by in a daze for Madoka. It was surreal, reliving lessons and conversations that she’d already had. With each passing day she became less and less able to convince herself that it had all been a dream. Because Madoka was sure that she couldn’t see the future.

 _Who would even want to?_ She made sure to add while thinking about her situation, _knowing everything that’s going to happen would get really boring._

And it did. She’d already seen what was on tv. She’d already heard that new song by that singer that Hitomi liked and neither she nor Sayaka could ever remember his name. She knew exactly what her mother was going to say to her. She pretended not to, of course. She didn’t want to make anyone worry. Or suspicious.

Until one day, Ms Saotome interrupted her daily boyfriend rant to introduce a new transfer student into the class.

The girl wore plain black tights with her school uniform and her hair was loose down her back. Various people gasped when they saw her. Even Sayaka felt the need to inform the people sitting near her how gorgeous this person was.

Madoka recognised her instantly.

“I’m Homura Akemi. It’s nice to meet you.”

Homura sat in the empty seat near the front of the classroom.

“Hey,” Sayaka whispered to Madoka, “Quit staring.”

Madoka blinked and directed her gaze away from the back of Homura’s head. She smiled at Sayaka and tried to focus on the teacher, who had (finally) moved on to something actually school-related.

***

Homura was surrounded by half the girls in the class during the first break of the day. They asked her about her previous school and how she did her hair and this and that and the questions kept coming. Madoka sat off to the side with Sayaka and Hitomi, just as she had before.

“There’s something awfully mysterious about that girl, don’t you think?” asked Hitomi.

“Hey Madoka,” Sayaka butted in, “do you know that girl? You were staring at her pretty hard earlier on.”

“Well I’m not really sure...” Madoka trailed off as Homura stood and walked over to where she was sitting.

“Miss Madoka Kaname,” Homura began, “you are the health representative for this class, aren’t you? Would you please come with me to the nurse’s office?”

Madoka nodded. Both girls exited the room.

They walked in silence, with Homura walking slightly ahead. It wasn’t until they reached the glass corridor that Madoka felt like she was able to say anything.

“Um, Homura?”

Homura stopped. She turned sharply to face Madoka.

“I was just... I mean... well, I, um...”

“Did it work?” Homura asked.

“I think so. If this is what you were trying to do, I mean. I can remember what happened before. So you really can turn back time?”

Homura seemed to breath a sigh of relief.

“Yes. I told you. However, I’ve never brought anyone else back with me. To be honest, I did not know if it would work.”

“Homura...”

“I need to ask you. Why were you still so determined to become a magical girl. Even despite knowing what would happen to you if you did? Knowing your eventual fate?”

“I figured out what I wanted to wish for. What I want to wish for...” Madoka stopped talking. Homura was glaring at her with such an intensity that Madoka felt that she wouldn’t be able to justify herself.

“You will not become a magical girl.” Homura said, before turning away and beginning to continue walking.

“Wait!” cried Madoka. Homura stopped walking, but made no move to turn back around. “I’ve been thinking and, um, we started this off pretty similarly to last time didn’t we? If we do the same as what we did, then things will play out the same way, right?”

“They should do. Why?”

“Well, I think I know where we went wrong last time. So if we try and make things predictable, then we should be able to save everyone, right?”

Homura turned back to face Madoka. A pained expression was on her face.

“Whenever I’ve tried to save everyone it's always gone badly.”

Madoka walked up to her. “And whenever you’ve only tried to save me it’s also gone badly.”

“I don’t think...”

Madoka cut her off. “Homura. We have to try. You’re not alone, and we’re going to try. I don’t want Sayaka to suffer. I don’t want Mami or Kyoko to get hurt.”

“Madoka,” Homura said softly, “I don’t think you quite underst...”

Again, Madoka interrupted, “I understand perfectly Homura. But that’s okay. If you’re not willing to try, I can just call Kyubey here now. You won’t _need_ to worry about the others.”

Homura grabbed Madoka’s shoulders. Madoka responded by staring into her eyes, showing no signs of weakness or hesitation.

A few moments passed before Homura let go. “Fine,” she said while running her hand through her hair, “we’ll try your way.”

Madoka smiled, and slid her hand into Homura’s before beginning to lead her down the corridor. When she saw the look of confusion on Homura’s face, she giggled.

“I still have to take you to the nurse’s office, silly.”

“Oh, yeah”


	3. I First Met Her In A Dream

“You saw the weird transfer student today right?”

“We’re all in the same class Sayaka.” Hitomi said in response.

Swallowing the bite of food she had just taken, Sayaka spoke up again, “Yeah. I know that. It’s just, she’s weirding me out I guess. She broke all the city records in athletics and got all the maths perfect and - ”

Hitomi cut her off, “Yes, we know, we were there.”

“Well, what do  _ you _ think Madoka?” she asked the other girl, who had remained quiet throughout the conversation until this point.

“Well, I, um...”

“It seemed like you already knew her when she walked in today,” said Hitomi.

“Well, not really”

“Okay, what do you mean by that?” asked Sayaka, “Either you met her or you didn’t.” 

“Well, it’s like, you’re gonna think I’m weird, but I first met her in a dream or something.”

When her friends burst out laughing, Madoka wasn’t surprised. It’s what they had done last time when she told them that, after all.

“I got it all figured out!” Sayaka said once she had calmed down enough to speak, “ You guys knew each other in a past life, and fate has reached across time and space to bring you back together again!”

Madoka just stared at her. She hadn’t even remembered that Sayaka had said this before. It was just another one of those things that Sayaka says that shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

But.

Sayaka was more right than she could possibly have realised.

“In your dream,” Hitomi began, bringing her out of her thoughts, “what happened when you met her?”

“I’m not sure,” she lied, “I don’t remember that much, but it was really strange”

“If you want my opinion, I think it’s entirely possible that you  _ have _ met Miss Akemi somewhere before. You might not remember, but your subconscious certainly took note of it. When you were having that dream, your mind simply brought up the image of her.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.” Madoka nodded.

***

Madoka was standing just inside the music store.

_ There’s not much point trying to listen to anything,  _ she thought,  _ not when Kyubey’s about to -  _

**_“Help me!”_ **

_ \- call for me,  _ she mentally finished, sighing to herself.

**_“Madoka, help me!”_ **

She turned around and walked straight to where she knew that he would be.

***

“What’s that thing you’re carrying? It looks like a stuffed animal! Is it alive?” Sayaka asked as the two girls ran towards the abandoned floor’s exit. 

“I don’t know.” Madoka responded. She realised that pretending not to know anything about magical girls was probably a good idea at this point, especially in front of Kyubey.

Soon enough, the room that they were running through was overtaken by a witch’s barrier.

Sayaka was terrified. Madoka, however, was not. She knew that Mami would be there to save them, so she didn’t worry. She pretended to be scared though, clutching onto Sayaka’s arm just as she had been in the first timeline. Madoka realised that her friend was actually  _ shaking  _ with fear.

When Mami appeared, Madoka watched in awe as countless familiars were destroyed by a seemingly endless supply of musket guns.

Mami was alive! Actually alive!

And Madoka was determined to make sure she stayed that way.

***

**_“Thank you Mami, you’re a lifesaver!”_ **

“I’m not the one you should be thanking. They saved you. I was just passing by”

The small cat-like creature turned towards Madoka and Sayaka.  **_“Thank you very much! My name is Kyubey.”_ **

“Were you the one who was calling for help?” asked Madoka, making sure to play her role.

**_“That’s right, Madoka Kaname. And Sayaka Miki.”_ **

“Hey hang on a sec, how do you know our names?” asked Sayaka.

_ Did he ever actually answer that?  _ thought Madoka.

**_“I came here because I have a favour to ask of you both.”_ **

_ No, he didn’t answer. Probably because he stalked us and can’t lie for some reason. _

**_“I want you to make contracts with me, and become magical girls!”_ **


	4. I Appreciate The Gesture

Killing the witch was easy. Mami Tomoe had been a magical girl for nearly three years, and had perfected her technique. As long as she wasn’t taken by surprise, she couldn’t lose. She was sure of that.

This wasn’t the first time that she’d had company during a fight. However, it  _ was  _ the first time that the people there with her weren’t magical girls but were there by choice. Sayaka and Madoka had watched her fight the ‘rose garden witch’. Mami hoped that this would help them to make a sensible decision about their becoming magical girls.

While she demonstrated to the younger girls what grief seeds were, and why they were important, Mami noticed something moving in the shadows.

No. Not something.  _ Someone. _

“It should be good for at least one more use,” she called to the figure, before throwing the grief seed in that general direction. It didn’t hit the floor. “Take it! I’m giving it to you.”

The girl in the shadows moved closer so that she could be seen, the grief seed in her hand.

“Her again...” Sayaka muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. Mami barely heard her.

After a long pause, Homura spoke. “I appreciate the gesture. Thank you. However, I do not need it. I have enough stored and you should keep this one.” She walked closer to Mami and held the grief seed back towards her.

Mami took it back, and placed it into her pocket.

“I have an urgent matter to discuss with you,” Homura said, “and I would rather not bother civilians with it.”

“They’re considering becoming magical girls. They have every right to know.”

“Um, guys?” Madoka interrupted, “That woman who jumped? She might panic if someone isn’t there when she wakes up.”

***

When she was sure that the woman would be able to make her way home ok, Mami walked back to where she had left the three girls. They were talking.

“We know that it’ll be dangerous though, that’s nothing new!” Sayaka was saying as Mami approached.

“I think you should listen to her Sayaka,” Madoka responded.

“She  _ is _ right, you know.” Mami added. She then turned to Homura. “There was something you wanted to talk to me about?”

Homura looked over at the two non-magical girls.  _ No, she’s only looking at Miss Miki,  _ Mami noticed. She decided to think nothing of it.

“You may tell them whatever it is you have to tell me.”

“Very well.” Homura flicked her long hair back over her shoulder. “In approximately one month Walpurgisnacht will arrive in the city.”

Mami couldn’t help it, her eyes widened in shock. “Walpurgisnacht will be coming here?”

“Yes. It would be a good idea for the two of us to work together in order to destroy it.”

“Of course.”

“Hold up,” Sayaka interrupted, “You two may know what this ‘Walpurg-whatever’ is but Madoka and I have no clue so could you explain now?”

“Walpurgisnacht is the name that magical girls have given to an enormous witch. It’s so powerful that it doesn’t need any wards to hide within. Wherever it appears, mass death and destruction is left in its wake.” Homura explained.

“How come I’ve never heard of this before?”

“It is still a witch, albeit a very large one. It is invisible to most people. The destruction it leaves is explained as being the result of an earthquake or something similar.” Homura answered.

“And that’s coming here? To Mitakihara? For reals?”

**_“It would appear so, Sayaka Miki. With something like that approaching the city, it seems that these two will need all the help they can get.”_ ** Kyubey said.

“Neither of you should let this influence your decision.” Mami turned towards the two, “Although if you are going to become magical girls, you should do it sooner rather than later so that you can be prepared when the time comes.”

“It’s unlikely that anyone who goes up against this witch will survive. Take that into consideration.” With that, Homura turned around and walked away.

“What d’you reckon’s up with her, Madoka?”

“She’s probably worried. I mean, who wouldn’t be?” Madoka answered.

**_“It’s possible that Homura Akemi has seen Walpurgisnacht before.”_ **

“She did seem awfully sure of what it would mean for the city. I’d only heard rumours before now,” Mami said, “however, Kyubey, it’s rude to speculate like that.”

“Wouldn’t you know though? I mean, you must have made a contract with her, right?” asked Sayaka.

**_“She’s what you could call an ‘anomaly’ in this world. I have no memory of making a contract with her, and I have no idea what she’s capable of.”_ **

“Well, if we’re friends with her now, then I’m sure we’ll find out soon.” Mami added.

Madoka appeared satisfied with that, even if Sayaka wasn’t.

Agreeing to meet up again the next day, with Homura this time, the girls went their separate ways for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my original burst of inspiration has kinda disappeared. i've ended up with an idea for something else that i may or may not start (it could end up being very long) but i will still definitely continue writing this bc i know where i'm going with it.  
> it just won't be updating that regularly. still, i pretty much don't have to go back to school until september so who knows ????


	5. One Last Cake

Her mother tried to hide how bad it really was from her, but Nagisa wasn't stupid. Neither of them had been home for ages. It seemed that the amount of machines that her mother was hooked up to kept on increasing. Each day there were more medicines given to her and more tests being run and more doctors hovering around her bed. _._

Nobody had told her to school for the past three weeks. That, really was what confirmed it for her. Her mother was not going to get better. There was no way.

Not exactly a nice thing for a 12 year old to have to figure out on her own, but there you go.

***

Nagisa was walking back from the hospital cafe, clutching a hot chocolate, when she saw it.

Following close behind the heels of a slightly older girl with blue hair was a small animal. It resembled some sort of cat, but parts of its fur was pink and it had strangely long ears. Were they ears? Nagisa couldn't tell. And she definitely couldn't think of any cats she has seen or heard of that looked like that.

Nobody else around her seemed to notice the cat-thing, or if they did it didn't seem to be unusual to them. Maybe it was just a toy? But it seemed too, well, _alive._

All attempts to understand the creature in front of her were abandoned when it stopped following the girl as she walked up the stairs. Instead, it turned, and stared straight at Nagisa.

It had seen her.

Quickly, Nagisa hurried away from the cat-thing back to her mother’s room, trying in vain to push the creature’s red eyes from her mind.

Her mother was asleep, so she was careful to be quiet as she entered the room. She placed her drink down on the side and sat next to the bed. She was just about to reach over for a book when she saw it.

**_“Hello Nagisa Momoe”_ ** it said in a childlike voice, **_“my name is Kyubey.”_ **

Nagisa scrambled to stand, to get away, to do _something because ohmygoditfollowedmeandittalksandwhatisevengoingonhere._

Kyubey, on the other hand, did not seem so panicked. It didn't even seem concerned about the fact that Nagisa was clearly frightened.

**_“I can leave if you would like, but I think that you would like to hear what I have to say.”_ **

“What are you?” asked Nagisa.

**_“As I said, my name is Kyubey. I'm here because I have a deal to offer you.”_ **

“A deal?” she said, “what kind of deal?”

**_“I want you to make a contract with me and become a magical girl!”_ ** said Kyubey, waving his tail slightly. **_“I can grant you one wish. Any wish at all. Anything you desire. Once it's granted you will become a magical girl, and fight against creatures of despair and suffering.”_ **

“You can grant wishes?”

**_“_ One _wish.”_**

Nagisa looked over at her sleeping mother. A million possibilities ran through her mind. This was an amazing opportunity! Why had she even been so afraid of Kyubey? He only wanted to help, she could see that now.

She began to mutter to herself. “I could have a lifetime’s supply of cheese. I could end world hunger. I could make it so that I'm not so behind in school. I could... I could...”

She realised what she wanted. _Of course,_ she thought, _how could I even consider anything else?_

**_“Have you come to a decision?”_ **

“Yes! Kyubey, I wish for one last cake to share with my mother! A cheesecake! Her favourite type! That's what I want.”

A lilac glow filled the room as Kyubey did something with his ears. They reached out to Nagisa’s chest. It hurt, yet at the same time felt like nothing at all.

Then it was over. Nagisa was left clutching an oval shaped gem, the same colour that the room had been glowing a few moments before. On the top of the gem was a small, golden strawberry.

**_“That is your soul gem. It’s the source of your magical powers, so make sure to keep it with you at all times. You can turn it into a ring to make it easier to carry with you.”_ **

She did so. It fit perfectly onto the middle finger of her left hand, the nail of which she noticed now had a lilac strawberry on it.

“Thank you Kyubey.” she said.

***

The cake was delicious. Both Nagisa and her mother agreed that it was the best thing that either of them had ever tasted. Her mother, thankfully, didn't ask where it had come from, and Nagisa didn't volunteer the information. They laughed and chatted as they ate. For half an hour, it was almost as if nobody was ill, and they weren't in a hospital at all.

Alas, it was not to last.

The next day, Nagisa was woken up from where she had curled up on a chair by the machines around her mother’s bed beeping frantically. She called for help, and nurses and doctors rushed in. They removed her from her mother’s room but she could still see and hear everything that was going on.

She didn't hang around after her mother died.

She knew that if she did she would be swarmed by well-meaning adults and she didn't want to deal with them. Not then.

Without grabbing a jacket (it was inside the room, and she was not going back in there anytime soon), she made her way out of the hospital and sat on the ground near the bicycle racks, leaning against the wall.

She stayed there for about half an hour, watching the people pass by. Lazily, she noticed the girl from the previous day, only this time she was there with a few other people. Presumably they were her friends. Maybe they were magical girls too? She was beginning to debate with herself whether she should ask them when Kyubey appeared beside her.

**_“Your soul gem is getting dark.”_ **

“Huh?”

**_“Your soul gem. Look at it.”_ **

Nagisa did as instructed. It was a lot less bright than it had been the day before.

“Huh.”

**_“That happens when a magical girl uses her magic, or suffers from emotional distress. You need to get grief seeds from witches in order to clean it up.”_ **

“My mother just died, Kyubey, of course there’s going to be some ‘emotional distress’.”

**_“Still, you would probably find it beneficial to begin hunting witches at this point.”_ **

Nagisa was just thinking about a possible response when she had a horrifying thought. She almost didn't want to consider it. But she had to ask. She had to make sure.

“Kyubey,” she said, “could you have saved my mother? Healed her?”

**_“I can grant the most impossible of miracles. If you had wished for it, I could have made sure she lived a long and fulfilling life.”_ **

Nagisa curled her right hand, the one not holding her rapidly darkening soul gem, into a fist. “Why didn't you tell me you could do that?”

**_“I told you I could grant any wish that you wanted. I am not allowed to suggest wishes to potential magical girls. I am not to blame if you regret the wish that you made.”_ **

She dropped her soul gem to the ground and lunged towards Kyubey, grabbing him around his neck. He didn't react. After spending a moment considering what to do, she threw him away from her as hard as she could. He didn't go far. So, she summoned her weapon for the first time. It was a trumpet. She blew into one end and bubbles shot out of the other towards Kyubey. He dodged them, but didn't stick around to receive another round.

Nagisa dropped her hand and the trumpet disappeared. Shakily, she stood, picking up her soul gem as she did so. It was much darker now than it had been, and getting darker still.

She thought about her wish, though how stupid it had been, of only she had _stopped to think_ then she could have saved her mother. She could have!

But she didn’t.

She was _worthless._

_Good for nothing._

_A waste of space._

_Couldn’t do anything right._


	6. You Made It

Despite nearing 100 runs of the six-week period, there were still many things that Homura hadn’t tried. Not that she was actually aware of them. As far as she was concerned she was almost out of options. Hence the pulling Madoka back in time thing.

So she was surprised when Madoka suggested that she and Mami go with them to the hospital that day.

Out loud, she’d said ‘We can go straight on to witch hunting after. We’ll save time that way.”

Sayaka and Mami had agreed. Homura wasn’t sure, but there was no opportunity to speak with Madoka alone. She could always use the telepathy available to magical girls, but that would make Kyubey aware of what was going on. That could only end badly.

She just had to go with it, hoping that Madoka knew what she was doing.

***

As the four girls walked towards the entrance, Madoka scanned the wall by the bike racks for the grief seed that would hatch that day. She couldn’t see it. She did, however, see a small girl sitting on the ground. The girl didn’t look as if she was focusing on anything in particular, and she was holding something in her hand. Madoka couldn’t see what it was.

The group walked on and into the hospital. Sayaka went upstairs to Kyosuke’s room while the other three stayed in the waiting room downstairs. After a few minutes Mami got back up and walked in the direction that the nearby sign said the toilets were. As soon as she was out of earshot, Homura spoke.

“What are we doing here?”

“Mami got killed by that witch today,” Madoka said.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“She got killed because it took her by surprise. We’re all already friends, so she won’t stop you from helping her now. This way you can both fight the witch and Mami won’t die.”

“...That’s a good idea,” said Homura. “I hadn’t thought of doing that before. Truthfully, that witch only started appearing recently.”

“I looked for it on our way in, but its grief seed wasn’t there. I just saw...” Madoka trailed off, then her eyes widened in realisation. “Homura, do you have any grief seeds with you?”

The sudden urgency in her voice caused Homura’s brow to furrow in confusion. “Yes I do,” she said, “but why?”

Madoka stood. “Did you see that girl sitting by the wall outside?”

“No”

“Well there was one and I think _she’s_ the witch. We could save her!”

“Save who?” Mami had returned without either of them realising.

Both girls froze. Madoka looked over to Homura for help, only to see that Homura looked almost scared. Clearly, Mami was not to know about the link between magical girls and witches. They would have to come up with something else, and quickly.

“There’s a girl outside that needs our help!” she said, before sprinting for the door. She hadn’t been able to think of anything, so had opted just to run away.

***

The moment that Madoka bolted, Mami had made to run after her. Before she could, though, Homura had transformed into her magical girl outfit and twisted her shield. The other girls froze midair. The tv stopped playing. Words stopped being spoken and everything fell silent. Time stood still.

Calmly, yet quickly, Homura made her way outside. There, she saw a young girl standing next to the bicycle racks. Her white hair hung long and loose down her back as she looked at what she was holding in her hand.

It was a soul gem.

A dangerously dark soul gem.

Homura had never come across this girl before. She had no idea who she was. And, frankly, it would’ve been easier for her to just let her turn into a witch. Homura could deal with Charlotte, the Witch of Sweets. She didn’t have a clue what the girl she used to be would be like.

Besides, she was already trying to keep three (four when Kyoko inevitably arrived) people alive and not witches. She really didn’t need another one to look after.

But.

Madoka wanted to save this girl.

And this girl couldn’t be older than 10, surely. She was just a kid!

Sighing, Homura pulled a grief seed out of her shield. She walked towards the girl until she was standing directly in front of her, and held out the grief seed to the worryingly dark gem. She allowed time to move again.

At first, the girl didn’t even notice that Homura was there. She was too busy staring at her soul gem. However, a couple of seconds of the gem getting brighter rather than darker was enough to wake her up from her daze. A couple more seconds told her that there was a person standing in front of her.

She snatched her soul gem away.

“It’s not fully purified yet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Who are you?”

“This is a grief seed. You use it to clean your soul gem. Here.” Homura held out the seed towards the girl. After a moment’s consideration, she took it and held it back up to her soul gem.

Wheezing a little, Madoka and Mami reached Homra and the girl.

“Good, you made it.” said Madoka.

“What’s going on? Who is this?” asked Mami.

“Madoka spotted this girl on our way into the hospital. She was in need of help. Her soul gem was reaching its limit.” Homura said as she transformed back into her school uniform. She took the now-used grief seed back from the girl and slipped it into her pocket.

“Oh dear. But you’re alright now?” Mami directed this question at the girl.

“Um, I think so? Are you magical girls too?”

“These two are, but I’m not.” said Madoka.

“Would you like to stay with us for a bit?” asked Mami.

The girl nodded, and followed them back into the hospital building.

***

They didn’t introduce themselves to each other properly until Sayaka rejoined them (which was only a few minutes later. Kyosuke hadn’t wanted to see her that day).

“We’re about to go on a witch hunt. Do you want to join us Nagisa?” Mami offered.

“I can’t,” she said in response, “I have to...” she trailed off.

“Have to what?” Sayaka pressed.

Nagisa looked up at the four girls and felt tears welling up in her eyes. She barely registered the fact that someone began to hug her.

“Why don’t you three go home?” she heard a muffled voice say, “I can manage here.”

When Nagisa looked up again, only Mami remained. She gestured for them both to sit down, which they then did.

“Now, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is pretty much completely unedited (most of this fic is tbh) so sorry if there are any mistakes


	7. I Would Never Refuse You

“There are only two possibilities.”

“What?”

“Either this time is erased, or the universe is altered and this time is erased.”

“So either way, what we do now won’t matter?”

“Not exactly. The universe would be altered in a way that is beneficial to us. Magical girls wouldn’t become witches. We can both agree that’s better.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m looking forward to becoming a witch...”

“Exactly!”

“But what has this got to do with us? If the system is set to change, why get involved?”

“Because if we don’t, then time will still be rewound. But nothing will change. We have the power to push them to the edge, so she has no choice. If we do nothing, then this is just another timeline wasted.”

“I see.”

“I’m going to need you to do some things for me. Are you willing to do whatever I ask?”

“Of course! I would never refuse you, Oriko.”

“Good. Now, here’s the plan...”


	8. Long Time No See

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been such a long time since i last updated. i've been writing an undertale fic, which is [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7528747/chapters/17115010) if you're interested
> 
> also a lot of this chapter is stuff from the first two chapters of oriko magica. so if you've read it already please be patient. i promise that there won't be any retelling from this point on
> 
> enjoy : )

Kyoko Sakura was used to having to avoid the other magical girls in Kazamino. She may have been skilled, but there was no way that she’s survive if all of Rina’s gang attacked her at once. So she kept to her own area. It didn’t bother her too much. There was no shortage of witches, and she already had a good sized pile of grief seeds stashed in her family’s old church.

Even so, she couldn’t help but notice that the other girls were mysteriously absent from the city. Kyoko was finding herself more and more able to branch out without retribution.

It was on one such excursion that she came across a small girl with green hair. As the wards fell away and Kyoko picked up the dropped grief seed, Kyoko saw her sitting on the floor, staring at the mess of blood in front of her.

The mess of blood that was probably what was left of the poor girl’s parents.

“Hey kid!” Kyoko called out to her. She didn’t look up. “It’s a real tragedy. But that’s reality for you. You can cry and wail, but that’s not going to bring your parents back.” Still no reaction. “Just be grateful that you managed to survive.”

The girl showed no sign of having heard anything that had just been said to her. She just kept staring at the bloody corpses on the floor. _Poor kid,_ thought Kyoko, _I can’t just leave her here._

“Make a face like that, and nobody’ll ever help you out.” Kyoko said, holding out a lollipop to her. Finally, the kid looked up. “Come on,” she said, holding her hand out, “let’s get out of here before someone sees.”

The little girl took Kyoko’s hand and they left.

When they were a safe distance away they sat on some steps and Kyoko gave the girl some food, saying, “listen, once you’re done with that, I want you to beat it!”

The girl looked at the bun in her hands suspiciously for a few seconds, before taking a giant bite out of it. Then another. And another.

“You’re wolfing it down too fast! Are you even taking time to taste it?” Kyoko sighed before handing the child a canned drink. The girl brought it up to her lips and started to drink, slower this time. “That thing that killed your parents, kid,” Kyoko said, “was a monster called a witch.”

“Witch?” said the small girl.

“Yeah. And I fight witches. I’m what’s called a ‘magical girl’.” The small girl turned to look at Kyoko properly. “Just like what you read in manga, right?” The girl nodded. “But it ain’t like in manga where your overflowing love and courage is enough to give you the strength to save your butt. And ain’t nothing can bring dead family members back to life.” She paused for a moment. Partly to let her words sink in, and partly to get the image of her family home burning out of her mind. With a deep breath, she continued. “So, kid, when you eat, you gotta start - “

“Yuma,” the kid interrupted.

“Huh?”

“My name isn’t ‘kid’. It’s Yuma.” When Kyoko didn’t respond, she asked, “so, are you some kind of hero?”

“Huh? No, I ain’t nothing noble like that.”

Yuma appeared to think about this for a moment, before standing and saying, “then I’ll fight too.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll become a magical girl and fight witches too.”

“Don’t ever say something that stupid!”

“But my parents are dead! So I have nowhere else to go! Tell me what you have to do to be a magical girl! I’ll do anything!”

“Quit being so naive!” Kyoko snapped. “You know how people say ‘you bet your life’? Well this time _they ain’t kidding around!_ If it’s your life at stake, then why don’t you place your bet on living a good one?” She began to walk away, hoping that would be the end of it.

“Yeah, but, I’m all alone now, so I....” she trailed off. Kyoko could hear that she was about to start crying. If there was one thing that Kyoko didn’t want, it was a crying child.

“For crying out loud! I really don’t know why I’m getting involved in this. Look!” She turned back to face Yuma. “Pay attention here. I’m Kyoko Sakura, got it?”

“Kyoko?”

“Yeah. If you wanna make it on your own, then I’m the one who’ll tell you how.”

***

Yuma had nearly gotten hurt by a witch. Kyoko was checking her for injuries when she saw them.

Burns on her forehead. They can’t have come from the witch. No way. They looked like they came from a cigarette or something.

She was staring, and Yuma noticed. She stepped back so that her fringe covered her forehead again.

“Hey,” said Kyoko, “if you don’t wanna talk about it, I won’t ask.”

“...I actually didn’t like my parents that much. They’d fight all the time. Daddy was hardly home. And Mummy would pick on me. She said the reason that daddy didn’t come home, the reason that Daddy was always out somewhere playing around, was because Yuma wasn’t a sweet enough daughter. Then she’d do things that really hurt...” she trailed off.

“The world ain’t a nice place, huh?” Kyoko sighed. “You know, I can’t say that I’ve never felt betrayed by a parent myself. You ain’t alone kid.”

“...Hey, Kyoko, why do you fight witches?”

“‘Cos I got no other choice, that’s why.”

“Where are your friends? What about school? Are there other magical girls?”

“Cut the questions!”

**_“There are many magical girls across the world.”_ **

Kyoko and Yuma turned to the small cat-like creature that had joined them.

**_“Yuma, you seem to have the qualities that make for a magical girl, as well.”_ ** Yuma picked it up **_“I am Kyubey. It is nice to meet you, Yuma Chitose. As I just said, you have the ability to become a magical girl.”_ **

“You mean I can become just like Kyoko?!” said Yuma.

**_“Of course. And if -”_ **

He was interrupted by Kyoko snatching him out of Yuma’s hands. “Don’t you dare go telling the kid any fancy stories!”

**_“Now that’s an odd reaction from you Kyoko.”_ **

“Shut up. Where are all the other magical girls around here, anyway? I haven’t been bothered by Rina’s lot for longer than normal.”

**_“It would seem that they’ve all been defeated.”_ **

“Defeated? You mean, by witches?” asked Kyoko, dropping Kyubey back onto the ground.

**_“No. It seems it was another magical girl.”_ **

“Huh?” Kyoko had fought other girls before. Mostly arguments with Rina and co. There was also that idiot from Asunaro, and of course Mami the last time she’d been in Mitakihara. Magical girls had been known to fight and kill each other, but for one girl to wipe out a whole group? It was practically unheard of. “What kind of girl did this?”

**_“I couldn’t say because I don’t quite know myself. Still, an outcome like this isn’t inconceivable. I think you should be on your guard as well. Still, if worse comes to worst, I can always add her,”_ ** he gestured over to Yuma, **_“to the ranks.”_ **

Kyoko shot him a glare, and he quickly ran off.

“Yuma,” said Kyoko, turning to face her, “don’t even think about becoming a magical girl.”

***

“The doctors told Kyosuke that they can’t help him anymore. That his hand won’t ever work properly again.” Sayaka said to Madoka.

“Oh no. That’s terrible.”

“I could help him. Kyubey said that he can grant my wish easily.”

“...I don’t think you should,” said Madoka. “You could get really hurt. I know Kyosuke’s your friend and all, but is letting him play violin again really worth risking your life?”

Their conversation continued as they left the hospital and began to walk to Mami’s flat. “I have an opportunity to make it like the accident never happened.”

“But why should it have to be your responsibility?” Madoka asked.

“It doesn’t _have_ to be. But it _can_ be. I _can_ help. Why shouldn’t I? Not only that, but by being a magical girl I could help protect everyone in the city. I’ll be a real-life superhero!”

Madoka sighed. How was she able to convince her friend that it was a bad idea without sounding crazy? “Why do you want to protect everyone, though?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Look,” she pointed towards a building just ahead of them, “we’re here.”

***

“We did it, Kyoko! Kyubey was right, I _can_ fight! He says it’s healing magic or something like that. When you get hurt I can fix you right up!”

Kyoko grabbed hold of Yuma’s shoulders. “Why? Why’d you become a magical girl. Didn’t you hear me tell you not to become one!”

“But I woke up and you were gone and Oriko said you were going to die! And I couldn’t find you and Kyubey said you were badly hurt so I just wanted to make sure you were okay! I’m not useless to you, Kyoko. I can help! I’ll do anything you say, and I’ll never tell you that I don’t wanna do it! So please don’t leave me alone!” She collapsed to the floor in tears.

“...You’re a dummy, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Becoming a magical girl for someone else’s sake. Nothing good can come of that.”

“Kyoko, are you crying?”

“Dummy, of course I’m not,” lied Kyoko. “Who is this Oriko?”

“...I don’t really know.” Yuma stood. “She was just there. She was dressed all in white. I think she’s a magical girl too.”

“And she said I was going to die?”

“Yes!”

“Well, I don’t think she was wrong. But she manipulated you, and that’s not something I can forgive!”

She led Yuma back to the room that they’d been staying in. Oriko had left no trace.

Kyoko didn’t like what was going on. At all. A mysterious magical girl was killing others at a rate Kyoko had never seen before, and another was trying to make more apparently.

It didn’t matter that Kazamino was recently unclaimed territory. Kyoko was feeling way too unsettled to stay there any longer. She’d been planning on heading over to Mitakihara anyway. She wanted to talk to Mami. As frustrating as it was that Yuma had contracted, having her around would probably make the conversation easier. Mami wouldn’t turn her away if she had a kid with her.

And there’d be safety in numbers. Besides, spending the past year hoarding grief seeds meant that she wasn’t going to run out any time soon. Even if she did have to share with Yuma.

There was nothing for it. She was going to have to go to Mitakihara. Immediately.

***

Mami’s flat was packed. Homura, Nagisa, Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami herself were all sitting inside. It had been decided that Nagisa would stay with Mami from now on, which suited them both just fine. All five girls were chatting and eating cake when they heard a knock at the door. Mami excused herself, and went to answer it.

Of all the people she expected it to be, this was not it.

“Hey,” said Kyoko. “Long time no see.”

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is appreciated : )
> 
> follow me on tumblr @ astralpenguin.tumblr.com


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